Forbidden Alliances
by HollyAndPhoenix
Summary: 19 years after the war, a new generation are starting school. But old wounds run deep and when Rose Weasley strikes up an unlikely friendship with Scorpius Malfoy, it seems everyone and everything is against them. Can their relationship survive?
1. Chapter 1

When Scorpius was a small boy, his father gave him a lecture on tradition

_When Scorpius was a small boy, his father gave him a lecture on tradition. "Never forget that you are a Malfoy," he said. "You come from one of the oldest and proudest wizarding families. It is important that you should uphold the Malfoy name, especially when you go to Hogwarts. Recently, there have been a lot of rumours about our family, about what we did or did not do in the War – all of them untrue. Scorpius, you must not listen to people who say that, they are trying to dishonour our family. You should be proud of who you are and where you come from."_

_It was an impressive lecture, but meant very little to the boy at the time. His world was composed of his family and his parents friends, who were all from equally respectable wizarding backgrounds. The idea of someone disliking him just because of his name seemed remote and slightly ridiculous; surely you disliked someone because of mean things they said or did to you? He supposed it was a special grown-up problem that was too complicated to understand. He tried asking his father what sort of rumours exactly were people saying, but his father was irritatingly vague and in the end Scorpius gave up._

_People at Hogwarts can't dislike me before they've actually met me, he reasoned, it wouldn't make any sense. It would just be silly, right?_

_He was about to get a big wake-up call._

"Oi Rose, wait up!"

"Catch me if you can," laughed Rose as she pushed her trolley through the carriage door. She glanced back at her cousin and giggled again. Albus was walking incredibly slowly so as not to upset the owl cage balanced precariously on his trolley. With each jolt of the train he had to grab on to the cage to stop it from falling.

"I don't know why we couldn't just stay in the last carriage," he moaned.

"Because there were scary Slytherin 6th years in there, obviously. Why don't we go in here," she added, peering through the window of the next carriage. There was only one person in there, the thin boy with blond hair who her dad had pointed out at the station. He didn't look very happy.

"Empty carriage?" came Albus's voice as he finally caught up with her.

"Not quite," she said, pushing the door open. The boy looked up at once.

Albus did an automatic double take at the sight of him, and although he tried to hide it, Rose could tell from the boy's expression that he had noticed.

"Hi," she said, as brightly as she could. "Are you a first year too? I'm Rose and this is my cousin Al."

"I'm Scorpius," said the boy hesitantly. "Scorpius…Malfoy."

"Nice to meet you," said Rose. She wished Albus would help her to fill the silence, but he just stood there unhelpfully. "Come on Al, let's sit down" she said, hoping he wouldn't just refuse and walk off, but to her relief he obeyed.

"Do you like Quidditch?" she asked Scorpius. In actual fact Rose had absolutely no interest in the sport, but she knew Al was a fanatical supporter.

"Oh yeah, definitely!" he said, and for the first time a smile crossed his face. Rose was amazed at how it transformed him. His whole face seemed to light up. "My favourite team is the Chudley Cannons, what's yours?"

"Umm…" Rose hesitated, trying to remember the name of one of the teams. But Al stepped in straightaway.

"_Same!_" he said eagerly. "I went to _all_ their matches last year, even the one where they got beaten 500-0!"

"Wow!" said Scorpius, "that must have been amazing!"

And they were off, discussing the different teams and debating who would win what. It was incredible, Rose reflected, how boys whose entire families hated each other, could forget all their differences, just because of some stupid game. For Rose was well aware of what her family thought about the Malfoys. Her parents had told her about the war that had happened nineteen years ago, and the part that the Malfoys had played. Although, as her mother had told her, the Malfoys had been punished horribly by Voldemort, there was still no getting away from the fact, as her dad had reminded her, that they _had_ been on the evil side.

But that doesn't mean that Scorpius is on the evil side too, she thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**This is my first ever story for fanfiction so sorry for the mistake in the 1st chapter! Thanks so much to the people who reviewed, although looking at my stats there are a LOT of people who read the story but didn't bother to review! If you read my story can you leave a review please, it takes so little time but it's really helpful.**

**Merci beaucoup xxx**

A few hours and many Chocolate Frogs later, the three of them were pretty firm friends, although Rose did still feel a little nervous of what her parents would think of her new friendship. Albus and Scorpius had gone off to change into their Quidditch robes when the door slid open and a girl entered. She was very pretty, with straight dark brown hair that fell smoothly and sleekly down her back and grey eyes. She was wearing her Hogwarts robes, and yet they made her look sophisticated, more mature.

"Hi," said Rose, slightly awkwardly. She was suddenly aware that her own hair was both very frizzy and very red, and that it was tied back in a messy ponytail.

"Hi," said the girl, "first year too? (Rose nodded) My name's Sophia Wood."

"Rose Weasley."

"Oh my god, you're a Weasley? Your family are, like, amazing at Quidditch. My dad and mum were on the Gryffindor team and they played with loads of people from your family."

"Oh really?" said Rose, trying to sound enthusiastic but failing miserably. She _hated_ being compared to the rest of her family. How could she ever impress anyone, when all they cared about was how her parents helped defeat Voldemort?

"Who are your parents, by the way? If you don't mind me asking."

_Um, actually I do_, Rose thought but didn't dare to say.

"My dad's called Ron and my mum's called Hermione – she's not a Weasley."

"Hmm…I _think_ he might have been on the team with my mum, as Keeper maybe."

_Who really cares?_ Rose was finding this girl increasingly annoying and her heart sank when Sophia began: "Is it OK if I sit with y – ?" She stopped in the middle of her sentence as Albus and Scorpius burst into the carriage, wearing their brand new Hogwarts robes. Sophia stared at them blankly, her face showing pure shock, then her expression hardened into contempt and she stormed out of the carriage.

"What was all that about?" asked Albus, looking bewildered.

"I – I don't know," stammered Rose.

"Did you do something to upset her or what?"

"No – I – we were just talking normally, then as soon as she saw you she walked out."

"Saw _me?_" repeated Albus. "Why would she do that? She doesn't even know me!"

"No," said a small voice. "It was because of me."

The two of them turned towards Scorpius, who flushed under their gaze. "She recognised me as a Malfoy," he continued. "She probably hates me because of my family and what happened in the war. It's the second time it's happened. Before you came, a boy walked into the carriage, took a look at me and walked straight out again. I'm kinda used to it now."

Rose suddenly found herself unable to speak or even look at him. Pity and an unexpected feeling of guilt welled up in her. She shot a sideways glance at Albus, who was staring fixedly at the ground. The silence lengthened and seemed to fill the room. Eventually, unable to bear it, Rose spoke up. "They shouldn't have done that. I don't think you're a horrible person just because of who your parents are, neither does Al." _That is, I hope Al doesn't think that,_ she thought secretly, because Albus was still not responding.

"Really?" asked Scorpius, looking wide-eyed and hopeful.

"Of course!" she laughed, trying to defuse some of the tension in the room. "And you better get all your stuff ready now, because I think we're coming to a stop."

The train did indeed seem to be slowing down, and through the window Rose caught a glimpse of a station with a sign saying 'Hogsmeade'. She felt a thrill of excitement: they were here.

As they hoisted their bags off the train Rose overheard someone shouting "First years, over 'ere!" and through the darkness she could make out a large form coming towards them. "Hagrid!" she squealed.

"Isn't that that half giant who lives in a hut in the forest?" Scorpius asked. "My father told me about him."

Rose turned round to face him. "Yeah, he is," she said coldly. "So what?"

"I…I just-" But Rose and Al had already run off to talk to Hagrid, and he was alone. Scorpius felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. Where had he gone wrong? This red-haired girl had been so kind, and then suddenly she too had turned on him. Maybe he was just doomed to be hated by everyone.

Rose couldn't believe he had said that. He had seemed so nice, too, so unlike the Malfoys that her dad had described. But maybe he was just the same. As they got into the boats that were to take them to the castle, she tried unsuccessfully to banish those thoughts from her mind. She was about to get her first sight of Hogwarts, after all. She couldn't be negative! So she sat opposite her cousin in the little boat, and they began to row.

After a few minutes, Albus tapped her shoulder. "Look behind you," he whispered. She turned, and was totally speechless. There it was, the great black castle, perched majestically on a hilltop. She grinned at Albus and he grinned back.

There was a soft thump as their boats ttouched the ground, and they scrambled out, eager now to see Hogwarts up close. Hagrid led them towards the castle in a long wiggly line, with Rose and Albus on the end.

"Where's Scorpius?" he whispered.

Now was not the time to explain. "Dunno…I think he's talking to some other people," she said vaguely.

"Oh…OK." He paused. "Rose, I'm scared."

"Me too."

"What if they put me in Slytherin?"

"They won't, you're too-"

But she was silenced as Hagrid rapped sharply on the Hogwarts door. In the darkness Rose found Albus's hand and squeezed it.

They were about to face their first test: the Sorting.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Sorting Hat holds some surprises...  
**

The Great Hall looked enormous to the line of quaking first years. Enormous and magnificent. Rose, near the very end of the line, stared up at the ceiling, which resembled the night sky, in awe. Everyone around her was talking about which House was the best and which one their parents got Sorted into, and so on. Rose wished they would stop; it was making her feel nervous. Her mum had said to her, just before she had left for Hogwarts, that it didn't matter what House she was in. But listening to Sophia behind her tell everyone that every Dark wizard had been in Slytherin, she felt afraid. Would her mum _really_ not care at all if she were Sorted into Slytherin?

Suddenly the room fell silent; the first person was about to be Sorted.

"Anderson, Melanie!" A tall blond girl nervously approached the Sorting Hat and put it on gingerly. There was an expectant pause, and then "Gryffindor!" Melanie took the hat off and joined the Gryffindor table, who were cheering wildly. Rose suddenly felt envious of her.

"Ralph Macmillan!" Rose watched as a rather chubby boy was Sorted into Hufflepuff, and then her attention wandered. She thought: what was the real point of the Sorting? It just split people up, made friends become enemies. Surely Hogwarts would be stronger united, not divided?

Half of the first years had now been Sorted, and Rose estimated that it was nearly Albus's turn. But first:

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" There was a lot of whispering as Scorpius placed the Hat over his head, and someone from the Gryffindor table booed. The Hat stayed on him for ages, and Sophia behind her grew impatient. "Why is it taking so much time with him?" she hissed. "He's obviously going to be in Slyth-"

"Gryffindor!" the Hat proclaimed.

_What??_

The whole school watched in silence as Scorpius stumbled towards the Gryffindor table. Nobody clapped; everyone seemed to be stunned into silence. Scorpius looked as confused as everyone else. He sat down at the very end of the table and those Gryffindors that were near him edged away.

Everyone was so shocked by the Hat's decision that they barely noticed that Albus, who normally got so much attention because of his father, was next. The hat was barely on his head before it shouted out "Gryffindor" again and Albus hurried off to the Gryffindor table, where his brother James patted him on the back. Typical, thought Rose. Al had spent so much time stressing over this, when anyone with half a brain knew that he was Gryffindor through and through.

The line of first years slowly dwindled, and in no time at all in was Rose's turn. "Ooh, good luck!" whispered Sophia. The Great Hall seemed a mile long as she walked towards the Hat in the centre. Could everyone see she was trembling? Did they know what she was thinking? She sat down unsteadily on the stool and placed the Hat on her head; it was far too big, covering her face. A voice suddenly spoke in her ear and she almost jumped with surprise.

Hmm…a good mind there, and determination to succeed. Definitely loyal towards your friends, and certainly brave, almost to the point of being stubborn. Difficult, very difficult…you have abilities that would be welcome in any of the houses.

I want to be in Gryffindor with Al, thought Rose.

_Gryffindor? You're sure? You could achieve greatness in Slytherin, you know, just like that other boy… But he was as determined as you are._

Gryffindor, please….

_You may regret it, but if you're certain, then it's …_ "Gryffindor!" The Hat shouted this out to the whole room and Rose removed it, relieved that the ordeal was over. She sat down on the end of the Gryffindor table, next to Albus, grinning with relief. Even better, Sophia was Sorted into Ravenclaw, so she would be able to mostly avoid her.

"Well done!" said Albus, as a mouth-watering array of food appeared on their plates.

"Thanks" she smiled "You haven't done too badly, either! And after being so scared…"

"I wasn't _really_ scared," protested Albus.

"Wasn't really scared?", James broke in. "You should have seen his face when I told him he might be in Slytherin!" He did a cruel but rather accurate impression and the rest of the second year boys erupted into laughter.

"Shut up, James," mumbled Albus, blushing. To cover his embarrassment he concentrated hard on eating a chicken leg. Checking no one could hear them, he turned towards Rose. "Do you think Scorpius is OK?" he murmured.

Rose glanced across he table to where Scorpius was sitting, looking miserable as he ate silently. "Dunno…"

"Bit of a shock, him being in Gryffindor. I wonder how his parents will take it?"

"I expect that's why he looks so miserable."

"By the way," said Albus, lowering his voice even more, "what do you think about him? He's not at all like what our parents said, is he?"

"Well," Rose hesitated. "I'm not sure…" And she proceeded to tell him what Scorpius had said about Hagrid. Albus looked grave. "To be fair to him, I know he shouldn't have said about Hagrid being a half-breed, but he's just repeating what his parents told him. You can't really blame him for that."

He was right, of course. Rose suddenly felt an uncomfortable guilty feeling somewhere in her stomach. Her first instinct was to speak to Scorpius right away and she had half-risen from her seat when the Headmistress stood up. All talk died away; Rose sat down again as quickly and unobtrusively as possible.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," she said in a clear voice which echoed round the Hall. "Especially to our new first years; we all hope they settle in well. Now, I have a few reminders to give out. To our new first years, the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to all Hogwarts students. Some of our older students also clearly need reminding of this." Her eyes rested on James, who boldly looked straight back at her. "Those students would also do well to check the list of items forbidden in Hogwarts in Mr Filch's office…"

Rose couldn't stop herself; she yawned widely and ostentatiously. The long journey and then all the food and then this boring speech…she was falling asleep as she sat there. A few students giggled as Professor McGonagall directed a haughty glare at Rose, but Rose was too tired to care. After a suitable silence, the Headmistress resumed her speech, but Rose had by now completely lost track of what she was saying. At last, the Headmistress finished her speech. _Finally._Rose clapped dutifully along with the other students.

And then everyone was getting up and following Victoire, Rose's cousin, up endless stairs, until finally they stopped at a painting of a woman. Rose walked in a dreamlike haze, too sleepy to even be surprised when Victoire spoke to the portrait and it opened from within. A snug, cosy room with a roaring fire – then up the stairs again to a dormitory with 4 four-poster beds. She headed for the nearest one and shoved her trunk underneath, before drawing the curtains and changing into her pyjamas. None of the other girls spoke – they were all too tired. Talking could wait for tomorrow.

She climbed under the covers and lay perfectly still. The wind was roaring outside the tower and it made it even more cosy. It was weird not being at home with her mum and dad and brother, and yet, somehow, it felt right. It felt like…like a _different_ home.

_That other boy…_ Her last thought before she fell asleep was to wonder who the Sorting Hat had meant. And yet, she had the funny feeling she already knew.

**I know McGonagall probably wouldn't still be head, but whatevs…I'm too lazy to make up a new head. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed and that you will now review! :)**

**To my two kind reviewers:**

**BelhavenOnTap: Yeah, I know…it will be interesting to find out how they deal with their parents reactions and if they can still stay friends in spite of them…**

**Dramione4Lyf: Glad you like it. :) Yeah, Scorpius/Lily sucks. **

**Rose was basically annoyed because Scorpius called Hagrid a half breed and said he lived in a hut…it was supposed to sound kinda snobby and rude, but maybe I didn't make it insulting enough.**

**Lol…Rose is gonna turn really pretty as she grows up…her hair's gonna turn from red to auburn which is such a pretty colour.**

**That would be scary…Harry/Hermione is just WRONG. Why cant people understand..they're only friends. **

**Thanks! I love Scorpius…and Al…and Rose :)**


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